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Friday, March 3, 2017

Quebec Democracy Shafts Anglos Again!

It was a shameful about-face by the supposedly impartial government agency
that draws up Quebec's electoral map when it decided to shaft anglo
voters by reversing a decision to eliminate the riding of
Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques and instead eliminate the Anglo riding of
Mont-Royal.
Bowing to furious public pressure led by
Quebec Solidaire supporters to save the riding, the CRE did a quick 180
degree turn and split Mont-Royal, giving about half the voters to
Darcy-McGee and the other half to Westmount.

Now all
four ridings involved had about 40,000 voters and the changes will push
Westmount and Darcy McGee (Côte Saint-Luc Hampstead) to an astounding
60,000 voters each, a number that makes a mockery of fair
representation.
The general rule is that no riding should vary by more than 25% of the average, but there are plenty of exceptions, non of them favouring Anglophones.

Let us consider the riding of Îles-de-la-Madeleine, a postage stamp island group in the Gulf of St. Lawrence that has but 11,000 voters.
In the last election 8, 500 citizens voted and elected a member.
In the last election 75,000 citizens voted in the three above mentioned anglo ridings and elected 3 members.

But in the next election the approximately 8, 500 citizens will again vote and elect a member for Îles-de-la-Madeleine,
However, in the next election approximately 37, 500 citizens will likely vote and elect a member for Darcy McGee and approximately 37, 500 citizens will likely vote and elect a member for Westmount.

Before the redistricting, voters in Côte Saint-Luc, Hampstead or Mont-Royal needed three voters to match the voting power of one voter on that fair island.
After redistricting, it will take four and a half voters to match that voting power.

PROGRESS!!!!!

It is in fact, nothing more than a painful Quebec version of gerrymandering, reducing the power of English votes in favour of boosting French.

It is especially repugnant considering that these Anglo ridings are growing while the Îles-de-la-Madeleine is on life supportand would probably collapse if not for the buckets of aid that the federal government provides, where the industrious fisherman work for three months and collect employment insurance for nine months and this year after year.
The mayor of Mont-Royal pleaded with the commission to save his riding, claiming that an incredible building boom will swell the population by 35,000.

In fact the citizens and businesses of the above-mentioned two newly-formed anglo ridings pay more in taxes than the entire six ridings on the Gaspé peninsula, plus the blood-sucking parasite that is Îles-de-la-Madeleine.
It is the ultimate democratic slight of taxation without fair representation.

Of course the Francophone media was abuzz with the story, all talking about the successful campaign led by the delightful Ms. Manon Massé,
the Quebec Solidaire incumbent who won the riding by 90 votes last election. All
the commentators agreed that the commission acted improperly by giving in to
pressure, but unanimously opined that in the end it was a good decision to save her riding at the expense of the Anglos.
Ms. Massé is famous for her radical lesbian anti-men tirades, telling all who will listen that rape culture pervades Quebec.
At any rate I don't think she's got much to worry about on that count.

Today the entire French media have totally ignored the shafting of theAnglo voters, instead focusing on her lovely victory.

As I felt the welling sensation of indignant rage at the injustice, I decided that instead of going to the bar to drown my emotions, I would head over to the cesspool that is the comments section of the Journal de Montréal and see what the trolls would have to say about all this, knowing full well that the comments are not moderated and we all know what that means.....

Now before anyone complains about the cruel, sarcastic and sexist insults, blame the Journal, it published the comments, I only translate.

-"And thus she avoids a return to Government benefits and Paris paté."

"A sourpuss who has no respect for men" "What's on her chin. Did she cut herself shaving this morning?

"Good for her. She'll be able to keep her salary and will be able to afford to buy a razor to take care of that mustache"

"Too bad!We could have got rid of her legally, without being accused of racism, xenophobia, misogynism or some other madness."

"Hooray...Welfare bums will continue to have a voice in the assembly"

"Ah Quebec... all to satisfy the LGBTs (read: the "fuckers"of this marvellous banana republic.)

"Cannot believe that we have this beauty as deputy. Hide in the last row"

"I hope that in
the next election, Quebec Solitaire will not have the bad taste to put
up posters with the picture of the beautiful Manon everywhere in her
riding. It could frighten children, scare tourists, increase the rate ofAlcoholism, and give serious arguments to women who are wearing the full veil ."

Lol!Did you see the welfare bums gang surrounding Manon at her press conference? It looked like a scene of the Bougons - The movie.

Well, she'll be
good to go once again, spitting venom at straight men, I don't understand why we
give so much visibility to this populist who propagates a message that
all men are serial rapists, I want to believe that she has theright to be a lesbian, but she could have a little respect. .

Is it a man or a woman?.....Manon Massé

Nobody knows!

"A woman with a mustache, someone described her as a 'butch.' I come from the
countryside and I not familiar with the term, I'd rather just call her a monster."

"The welfare butch of the gay quarter....ouch!"

"Do they take us for idiots thinking that we would swallow the reasons evoked by the commission to justify its about-face." "

"Too bad, Barnum & Bailey no longer accepts this kind of specimen."

"It is with great sadness that we learn that Manon Massé has advanced prostate cancer.We offer him all our sympathies."

"They are now talking about changing the name of St. Mary Magdalene to that of Karl Marx."

"Mouaaaaaaahhhh !!It's no big deal. A women who walks like a cowboy and looks like a witch."

"My neighbor's mother makes $75 per hour at home.She
was unemployed for 3 months, but last month her check was $14,438 working
on the Internet 3 hours each day >>
https://www.xxxx."

"Did she advise the welfare department of her new revenue?"

"I am so happy for her. Communist or not, it's necessary to represent the good people of her riding!!! Crack
houses, needle joints, 40% on welfare, 30% working under the table .... prostitution on all the corners.... but like all Quebecers they have the right to have a person defend their right to be bloodsuckers..... "

And I've saved the best for last. For those who read French it is a humdinger which would certainly be lost in translation.

On Sunday morning Madame Massé called a Press conference where she told reporters that she is seeking the leadership position of spokesmanspokeswoman, spokesperson of the party in light of Françoise David's retirement.

16 comments:

I asked my MNA via email 30 min ago IF he will sponsor an official petition for the legislature. I also wrote to Premier Couillard (Democratic Institutions) to do something to see that voters are represented in the legislature (rep by pop) The contact form follows and it is time for the masses to get up off of their asses! https://www.premier-ministre.gouv.qc.ca/premier-ministre/joindre-pm/courriel/index-en.asp

Oh, whooptie-do! Another petition. Really? Those things have a way of being seen but not heard. Interestingly, on 60 Minutes last night there was one segment about a woman named Le Pen who comes from a family of xenophobic fascists. Like Trump, her party is gaining traction.

To me, she is a carbon copy of the separatist Parti Québécois' last iteration. Eliminate all religious garb, perhaps except for the turban because sikhs and their influence in France is inert. They want to get rid of the burqini, the kippah (Jewish) in public, etc. Her modus operandi very closely resembles that identity bill (195?) Pauline Marois tried to do, i.e., promote the majority and alienate the minorities.

Simply put: French Quebec is the apple that hasn't fallen far from the tree.

Since the minorities are situated mostly on the West side of the Island of Montreal, perhaps it's time for the minorities, with 20% of the population and 40% of the wealth, to declare their desire to partition from French Quebec.

The ideal would be to build a wall down the Main (rue St-Laurent) from the St. Lawrence River up to the Rivière des Prairies (the "Back" River). It's much smaller than what Pres. Trump proposed (i.e., a wall on its Southern Border). The Eastern half of Montrealers and their slummy neighbourhoods would pay a toll to cross into the West thus ensuring the wall is paid for by Francophone slumdwellers. The Greeks and Italians could apply for passes ensuring an exemption from the tolls as long as they can speak fluent English. After all, the West Island (or the half of the Island makes up 40% of French Quebec's wealth) should't put up with a government that alienates those who contribute the most to the xenophobic society.

Oh, and people from Laval and the South Shore who speak fluent English should be able to apply for exemption passes as well. I'm ex-Chomedey, so I won't alienate those of my feather...if they are English speakers.

"To me, she is a carbon copy of the separatist Parti Québécois' last iteration. Eliminate all religious garb, perhaps except for the turban because sikhs and their influence in France is inert. They want to get rid of the burqini, the kippah (Jewish) in public, etc. Her modus operandi very closely resembles that identity bill (195?) Pauline Marois tried to do, i.e., promote the majority and alienate the minorities."

are you a liar or an ignorant? or both?

pauline marois never proposed anything about religious garb in public. she proposed banning ostentacious religious symbols for employees of the government. big difference. do you have enough cognitive sensitivity to appreciate this mate?

also, the burgini ban was an idea proposed by francois legault from caq. not pauline marois and not parti québécois.

I'm sketchy on this so don't hold me to it as gospel truth, but I recollect that in the BNA Act, there were actually ridings set up in Quebec as minority ridings on the provincial level that couldn't be touched...but a constitutional provision allowed a change to be made if and when the National Assembly wanted to. And in Bourassa's first term, he unceremoniously eliminated these riding(s) that were reserved for anglos. I think it was in the Eastern Townships or something.

Fools! Fools! Fools! Prior to your hiatus, Phil, there was a fellow whom I imagine was in his 70s from the way he wrote and described himself. I can't remember his nom de plum for this blog, but he and I had a wing-ding over this blog in the comments section. He felt Philippe Couillard MD would be some kind of savior, putting Quebec back into shape and French and English speakers would like for ever and ever in perfect harmony, almost like that Coke jingle of the 1960s "I'd like to teach the world to sing".

I haven't seen him post, but I'd still like to say ♪"I tolja so I tolja so I tolja tolja tolja so"!!! ♫

Sorry to write it gang, but I was completely skeptical Couillard would change things for the better and here I am proven right yet again. I can't write that I imagined Couillard and the so-called federalist party would have done this particular malfeasance to the portion of the population that makes up 20% of French Quebec but 40% of the tax base (read WEALTH).

I saw all this coming down the pike in 1974 when Bou-bou passed Bill 22, the first step in ruthlessly alienating the minorities and he did it again in 1988 with Bill 178. 178 + 22 = 200. Result: Bou-bou screwed the minorities in French Quebec 100% x 2 = 200!!! I was a teenager in high school back then yet I figured it out, finished my dirt cheap education in Quebec university and moved away the very next day after my convocation. I've never looked back, but what haunts me is my federal tax dollars still go down this black hole.

Minorities: You are the fools, unless of course you're just happy living in Montreal and are apolitical. If you can stand being ever increasingly alienated by the government of the day, whether federalist or separatist, and step by step losing your voice, your rights and everything else a tyrannous majority can conjure up against you, than more power to you!

" I can't write that I imagined Couillard and the so-called federalist party would have done this particular malfeasance...."

if couillard had anything to do with this, it's more likely that he pressured the directeur général des élections to shaft manon massé and the french poors, who don't vote for him, by merging them with rich anglophone westmount without allowing them the time to express their concerns about the new scheme. that was the plan, maybe you weren't aware. fortunately manon massé's constituents have reacted strongly enough to force the dge to reason. you have to admit that mont-royal and outremont have more in common than gay village and westmount.

it is quite stupid to propose, like you do, that couillard himself decided to shoot himself in the foot by getting rid of one secure riding. come on wake up mate.

"I moved away the very next day after my convocation. I've never looked back, ..."

except you're looking back here everyday bitching your way around. top contradiction mate. i think you should stop claiming you never looked back. just a way to crank your credibility a notch from zero to almost zero.

To continue Mississauga Guy post, I have to wonder. If what Mr. Berlach wrote is true, does that not mean that the gerrymandering weakens QLP's position in the next election as the QLP is the party that relies more on non-francophone votes?

If that is the case, what the fuck is the QLP doing? A majority-government party gets outplayed by a party with only two MNAs?

it's doing nothing as it should. it already did all it could by supporting a totally antidemocratic solution which was the merging of south central with westmount. now that reason has prevailed, couillard and inept de santis could carry on the fight, but it would mean hitting poor people in the streets with the police. some clever advisor told couillard not to go there. do you understand now troy?

In reference to Troy's remarks, can someone, other than student, educated me on how a party with two MNAs outplays the majority? If it can be done at the National Assembly, why don't the minorities who make up 40% of the jurisdiction's wealth just partition and put their taxes to intelligent things like investing and wealth creation?

That's it! Forget separation, Quebec minorities should simply partition Quebec into two jurisdictions: One for the 20% of the population with 40% of the wealth that acts intelligently, and the other one for the majority who is fixated on the 18th Century and are ignorant, brain-dead peons and quislings of the Roman Catholic church and have a visceral dislike for those who are not of their ilk.

Sorry, I cannot understand how two MNHAs of a fringe lunatic nincompoop party can outmanoeuvre the governing party. Only in French Quebec!

"I cannot understand how two MNHAs of a fringe lunatic nincompoop party can outmanoeuvre the governing party. Only in French Quebec!"

look mate even troy seem to have understood this simple thing: the directeur général des élections is independant from the government. you seem not to approve this thing. do you think the governing party should have the freedom to redraw the ridings boundaries according to its interests?!?

if you answer yes there will be two positive outcomes: first you will remain coherent (wrong, but coherent). second our community will have a laugh. it's not everyday that a lunatic passes by and supports authoritarian policies.

Can someone other than the foregoing El Sardonico explain to me how even an independent body can completely overrule the government. I imagine it's through legislation that the revisions are finalized, or am I wrong? If I'm wrong, my understanding is the English ridings will become larger and therefore increasingly redundant. Too, I figured the separatist governments of the past fixed the ridings this way as opposed to the so-called federalist governments whom I imagine would seek a fairer balance. It's certainly to their benefit to have better balance since minority votes for the PLQ is a given.

"Too, I figured the separatist governments of the past fixed the ridings this way..."

how many times will one have to tell you that the governments can't fix the ridings? the dge does it and he's got rules to follow. a riding can't have 20% more or 20% less than the average riding population except a few special ridings like iles-de-la-madeleine. and the dge needs to make sure the ridings are homogeneous. this last criteria impedes him to merge iles de la madeleine with the continent for example, even if the islands have only 10000 inhabitants as the issues that islanders face are very different from anyone else's.

the population increase is less in montreal than in laurentides and lanaudiere. so they will have two more there, and there has to be one less in montreal and another one less elsewhere. so for montreal it meant merging two ridings. the dge firstly proposed to merge montroyal and outremont. both vote liberal everytime, both are rich, etc. so it was thought that a dude could very well represent this bigger area, but still within average riding population +20%, without problems. of course liberal cheats prefer to keep both ridings, so a rich liberal militant came to the dge with a ton of bogus studies (http://tinyurl.com/zogtath) and managed to convince him that it would make more sense to merge ste-marie-st-jacques (quebec solidaire) and westmount !!!! how crazy was that?!? anyhow the dge came up with a revised map with ste-marie-st-jacques gone and mont royal and outremont still alive. this is the real scandal here. of course uproar ensued and the dge came back to reason for his finalized map.

please don't ask again why the government didn't rig the map. they tried but it doesn't work that way.

I noticed there were hardly any comments in the Gazette articles on this very important story.

If the voters in those ridings as well as minority communities in Quebec cannot even garner comments in a newspaper like the Gazette... how do you think it is possible to have enough clout to reverse this terrible decision by a bureaucrat in Quebec City?

FYI I will be making a contribution to the legal team taking this decision to the courts. I hope that anyone reading this will at least make their opinion known in the comments section of The Gazette.

This very important decision rendered needs the voices of all Montrealers and all minorities to be heard. Speak up people. Use your democratic given rights.

Hopefully there will be more articles and comments on this very important issue by newspapers like The Montreal Gazette and folks in general in future. The "squeaky wheel does get the grease" and it is crucial that people speak up about this issue. It is also important that Montreal and its diverse voices are not diluted in such a merger. It is bad for Montreal and it is bad for democratic representation of Montrealers in the province as well.

There is also a legal fund that has been started with a team of attorneys to challenge this in court apparently. I imagine donating to this cause might be a worthy endeavor for any Montrealer or anyone in Quebec who wants to challenge this in court. Hopefully this terrible decision will be overturned.